Among the accusatory prophecies we suddenly hear news of the coming King, filled with the Spirit, in whose Kingdom there will no longer be enmity either among animals or among people. But God has just been rebuking His people! Someone may say that He is inconsistent or unjust: if He has rebuked, then He must also punish. But Scripture reminds us that God's love is stronger than human sin; in His mercy God comes not to the righteous, but to sinners.

The Genesis reading is preceded by the Lord's promise not to destroy the earth and every living thing. And Isaiah's words "You were angry with me, but You turned away Your anger and comforted me" precede the coming of Christ. Comfort for people lies in Salvation and the path of Resurrection, and everything will be resolved on the day of Judgment.

And in Proverbs we find the words: "The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it". The Lord blessed us for life, for work, for happiness. But with Him and in Him, in His blessing. The whole world is now saved only through Christ and judged through our deeds.

And as the Lord restored the world after the flood, so through the Church and Christ each person will be restored. And each receives the whole world and bears his own burden of responsibility before the Lord.

At first glance, the coming Savior is portrayed as a fearsome judge dealing with sinners, which would seem to be confirmed by the words that He will kill the wicked. But then we read that the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and the lion will eat straw. That means cruelty and predatory ways will no longer reign, not only in human society but even in nature. But if violence will not be needed even to protect lambs, why then kill a wicked human being?

These words, apparently, still refer not to sinful people who are under the power of evil, but to the inspirer of evil, the ancient tempter who provokes people to sin in the hope of enslaving their souls. In that case, the words about the victory over him, accomplished by the spirit of the Savior's mouth, should be understood as a prophecy of the Lord's final victory over every evil, which is to come at the end of time.

It may appear that different events are joined in the prophecy: the final victory over evil and the more immediate deliverance of the people from captivity. But there is no contradiction here; the joyful pictures of the people's liberation from foreign oppressors were seen by Isaiah as a foreshadowing of the coming victory of truth and justice for all nations. For every genuine good is a particle of that great good coming from the Lord, which in the end must triumph.